Holbeach Buffs help air ambulance

The motto of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB) is No man is at all times wise.

However, 2014 South East Lincolnshire Provincial Grand Primo Terry Wallace was very wise when he adopted Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance as his charity during his year in office.

Terry, who attends the lodge in Holbeach, was able to hand over a cheque for £700 to the helicopter emercency medical service on Monday.

The money was raised by members at the various lodges throughout south east Lincolnshire.

Terry said: “I live in Lincolnshire and I travel up and down the A17 when I’m going to Holbeach and the A16 sometimes and the way people drive it’s lucky we don’t have head-on collisions.

“If the road gets blocked and someone urgently needs to get to hospital you really need the air ambulance to take you there. At the end of the day it saves lives and I am all for that.”

There are just ten members in the Holbeach lodge, although there members that meet across the region.

As provincial grand primo Terry visited the other lodges, offering support at events and fundraisers.

He said: “I felt I’d have liked to do a bit more, but I did my best and got £700 over the year.”

Terry says the organisation is similar to the Freemasons, and adds: “They call it the poor man’s freemasons. There are ex-service people in it and other people, but we don’t advertise and it is up to people to approach us if they are interested in joining.”

The next big event is the investiture of the new provincial grand primo Barry Prodger, which will take place at the Sleaford lodge, where Barry is based.

At that meeting, the chosen charity for 2015 is also discussed.

The order started in 1822 and is known as the Buffs to members.xx It aids members, their families, dependants of former members and other charitable organisations.

Although women are not permitted in the RAOB, one of the largest fraternal organisations in the United Kingdom, Mr Chambers was accompanied by his wife Heather at the presentation at the United Services Club.